Ship Ranking System

[Capn Frank]

Using my mystical ninja foresight I predict that you will convice yourself Aaron's ship is the best on the web after seeing it.

Creepy X-D

i know i know

i'm not very observant.

And i have a short memory

i've looked at that ship so many times and never looked at the name of the perosn that built it

then he thanks me for posting that his ship is like the best thing since sliced bread and i forget.

Now i know who aaron is, and there aren't a million aarons out there. Just one and he's great at making mocs! :-D Sorry bout that aaron.

Past couple weeks my mind's been all over the place with professors craming us with homework, quizes and exams before the semester ends.

[Norrington]

well, i just bought all the peices i need to build my ship of brick link, along with some more soldiers.unforturnatly they re coming from europe so it said i might take 6-8 weeks for the two packages (two moths! :^0 ) SO MY SHIP WILL BE 22 GUNS, BUT FOUR OF THOSE ARE NON FIRING, AND THE OTHER 18 ARE FIRING. UNFORTUNATLY IT'S TAKEN $140 SO FAR TO BUILD A SHIP.

[Scouty]

Oh dear. I'm stuck....not. Hehe. I have a SIP (Ship In Progress) right now. It has 0 guns. And is a little smaller than the IGF (Imperial Gaurd Flagship[Redcoats]). It's almost done now :capn: .I'll be posting it sooner or later here. Just need to make one BL order to get the rest of the parts that I unfortunately don't have.

[Legeaux]

2 decks = 1 gun deck and one top deck eh?(excluding sterncastle and forecastle),

this is sometimes confusing. some say a 2 deck ship is a ship with 2 gun decks, others say: it is a ship with 1 gundeck and a topdeck. And if that isn't confusing enough, some also count the hold, the stern- and forecastle....

And being an admiral of a Imperial Armada, we have more then only 1 gun ships!.... :armada1: :skel1: :armada3: :armada2:

'Tis very confusing indeed.

By the Napoleonic era (which is generally the era in which I choose to build), the number of decks refered to 'gun decks' - more or less enclosed decks with guns shooting through gunports in the hull. I say more or less, because, generally, the topmost gundeck would be at least partly open.

Generally, in ships with multiple gun decks, the guns on the lower decks where heavier than the guns on the upper decks. IIRC, the Spanish 120gun ships had four gun decks.

The 'top deck', I'd generally refer to as the spar deck, consisted (by then, anyway) of the forecastle & quarterdeck plus the gangways over the upper (or only) gun deck. The poop (still sometimes present on larger vessel) is a level above the quarterdeck (and hence the spar deck).

For determining the rating (in the Royal Navy) or the number of guns (elsewhere), generally only the number of guns on the gun deck (or gun decks) were counted. Spar deck (or 'topdeck' or upper deck) guns where

'extras', but were also generally lighter (or carronades). So a sixty four might have 32 twenty-four pounders on the lower deck, 32 twelve pounders on the upper, four 24 pound carronades on the forecastle, half a dozen 24 pound carronades on the quarterdeck, and a pair of nine pound chasers foreward and aft. (in the forecastle and the gun room respectively), plus a few swivel guns on the rails and in the tops.

I guess this is not much use to describing Lego vessels. And I'd warn against holding any of the above as 'truth'. As has been mentioned, we are talking about a rating system 200 years old, and records of the period, while comprehensive, are not always unanimous.

I don't worry about trying to rate ships (most of my naval vessels are French anyway, so it shouldn't be applied!), I tend to use the number of guns (on gun decks) and the rig to give a quick description, unless the description is obvious. eg the Mis